“ …you will need a new pair of conceptual “glasses” to see the world a bit differently.”
Already I understand the need to be looking at the world differently during learning process of this course, and beyond. Seeking to hear different people’s stories and learning from them is a process that brings people closer together based on the nature of the process.
The story of the artist Lily Yeh (Knight, Schwarzman 2006) reminded me of a community service project that I had the pleasure of being part of in 2010. The way that youth and other community members joined her in her vision to create something new from a vacant city lot really resonated with me.
I had the pleasure of experiencing the process of watching people come together for a community service project at a men’s shelter in Skowhegan Maine. It was one of the hottest days of summer when a group of
12 high school students and adult youth group leaders were invited to create a garden at a men’s homeless shelter that was under construction. When we arrived, there was a bulldozed space and piles of loam. The project looked so big that I could only see us being able to achieve simply moving the soil and getting the grass seed planted. The group began grading the loam over the bulldozed area with hand tools and wheelbarrows.
Every now and then, some of the men who lived at the church, which was the temporary shelter, would come out and see what was going on and ask why we were so happy about working in the sweltering heat. One of the youth leaders told him we were doing this for him. His face suddenly got really serious and he finished his cigarette and went back inside the air-conditioned building.
The organizer of the shelter project spoke about wanting a rock wall and a fire pit. There was a huge pile of rocks and nothing for constructing a fire pit on site. Having previously worked at a job where I did inventory control and purchasing, I asked if I could contact businesses in the community for donated materials and plants.
There was a large piece of cement drainpipe that was to be moved from the area we were working in. One of the teens came up with the idea to use it like a focal point in the garden by doing a mosaic design on it with tile and include the initials of the church. The organizer agreed to the project and moved the pipe where he wanted it. I included asking for colorful floor or wall tiles in my quest for donated materials.
Each day as we worked, we ate the noon and evening meals with the tenants of the shelter. A common question kept being asked of the teens. Why were they doing this? It was summer; why would they choose to work for no pay in the sweltering heat, working from the early morning, through five o’clock? The question was usually answered the same, that they were doing it to serve the people at the homeless shelter.
The men who lived there went about their daily routines, but began to interact with our work group. Towards the end of the week, 4 of the able bodied men were working alongside our group. One young man began a walkway through the garden area and made a cross in the stone design. He was very enthusiastic when he began and you could see the sense of satisfaction when he completed it.
Today the garden is a beautiful spot for the tenants of both the new men’s shelter as a family shelter and our group and the tenants who helped build it have a strong sense of community because of working together on this project. I still hear the teens who were involved mention it and occasionally one will make the trek to Skowhegan to visit and see how the garden is doing.
Knight, K., Schwarzman, M. (2006). Beginner's guide to community-based arts. New Village Press.
p.s. I just reposted this to my blog - I had posted it in error to my google page.... still learning the ropes here!
Post for week of 2/4/15
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